Have You Seen What They Are Doing with Plastic at Airports?

So I’ve just arrived at Miami International. I’m walking through the terminal and out of the corner of my eye is something spinning round and round. If I were to guess I would say it’s one of those mini coin operated merry- go -rounds to keep toddlers occupied for a quarter or two. When I look to confirm what it is I think I’m seeing, my jaw drops. It is a lazy susan for luggage if you will. It spins round and round much like a circular baggage claim. The difference is it’s one piece of baggage at a time. The catch…It’s being wrapped multiple and I do mean multiple times in some kind of plastic wrap.

When I asked what the purpose of this was, they said to protect the luggage. WOW! Isn’t this why we have luggage in the first place? To protect the contents inside. The luggage is supposed to take the knocks. This is ridiculous. Let pretend for a moment that wrapping luggage to protect it is a good idea. Then why so many layers? Wrap it once. twice if you must, but I was counting five or six wraps per piece of luggage. It spins and it spins, layer after layer wasting a ton of plastic in the process. I guess because you are paying anywhere from $9.00 to $14.00 a pop they want to make sure you feel you get your monies worth,

How could this be? How could a business located in the public terminal space at airports with a turntable and a GIANT spool of blue plastic not only survive, but thrive and expand all over the world. It is called Secure Wrap and it’s headquarters are in Miami, but they are located in 53 airports in 16 countries including South America, Spain and Australia. It’s frightening to think how much plastic they go through in a year.

They claim that their plastic is non toxic 100% recyclable plastic film. Even if that is true, what happens to the plastic once the people are through with it. Do you think they take the time to recycle it or they just throw in the trash.

On the website there are testimonials. One person talks about how secure wrap was helpful for him to find his luggage at the end of a flight. If that is your justification sir, please email your mailing address and I will mail you a red show string to wrap around your luggage handle. That will serve the same purpose and cut down on a ton of wasted plastic.

Their slogan is 100% peace of mind… Really, Seriously! I think there are a lot more things that will give me peace of mind when I am on an airplane. I don’t think I have ever had the thought of oh my God, That turbulence is bad, I hope my luggage is ok